This invention relates to a machine for shaping three-dimensional portions of food product, in particular meat, in particular for shaping portions of minced meat, provided with a interleaving paper applying device, as well as a corresponding interleaving paper applying device.
Machines for shaping three-dimensional portions of food product are known comprising a shaping device making it possible to continuously shape in shaping cells portions of food product using a mass of food product, for example delivered by a mincer, each cell comprising a bottom wall and a lateral wall, said shaping cells moving continuously.
The shaping device can include a shaping drum mounted rotatingly on a chassis around an axis of rotation, and having on its cylindrical peripheral surface shaping cells, said drum being provided with supply means in order to supply each cell with food product on a supply station and ejecting means in order to eject each shaped portion outside of the cell on an portion unloading station. At the output of the shaping device, the shaped portions are recovered on the upper strand of a conveyer.
In the case of the manufacture of minced steaks, the latter can be stacked on one another. In order to facilitate the later unstacking of the minced steaks, in particular in the case of frozen minced steaks, the minced steaks are placed in a stack with interleaving sheets or papers placed between them.
To do this, the machine can be provided with an interleaving paper applying system in order to apply a paper on each shaped portion. It has been proposed, in particular in U.S. Pat. No. 3,137,029, a paper applying system comprising a stack of paper arranged in the vicinity of the shaping drum in a tray, also called an unstacker, in such a way that each shaped portion takes a paper when passing on the unstacker. Such a paper applying system is rather inaccurate, and does not guarantee the applying of a paper on each portion.